The Assistant
by DeMash077
Summary: Takes place before the Faunus Rights Act. I guess maybe a slave AU. Crosshares
1. The Assistant

Velvet sat backstage trapped in the cold unrelenting steel that made up the cage her owner decided to keep her in. It was much too small to house her, if she stood it'd only come up to her waist. The velvet curtains from the stage kept most of the light out except for a small slit where they met, however Velvet was kept far away from this small slit of light to make sure the act wouldn't be spoiled. Although faunus can see very well in the dark this small amount of light was bright enough to keep it from kicking in. Though her sight was disabled her hearing was not, as she could hear a crowd of people finding their seats which meant the show would start soon.

The door swung open and the lights flicked on causing Velvet to be blinded further, but only temporarily. A tall man came in wearing a tux, sporting a top hat that drew attention to his bright orange hair.

"Is my little assistant ready for the show?" he asked looking down at the cage.

"Yes Master Torchwick." Velvet replied with the phrase she had uttered so many times it was like a reflex at this point.

"Good, because we have a big crowd tonight." Torchwick said with a smile on his face, however the smile quickly disappeared and was replaced by a much more serious face, "Don't screw this one up like you did the last show. If you do I won't be so lenient."

Velvet shuddered thinking about what had happened at the last show, and what had happened afterwards.

About a month ago Velvet was on stage and she accidentally knocked over a mirror that had hidden her presence, completely ruining the illusion. Her master was not too happy about it and she had received a punishment that he deemed 'light'. For the next week she was locked in a dark room with nothing more than a bowl of water and bread that was refilled twice a day.

Torchwick let the threat sink in for a bit before he wacked the side of the cage with his cane, releasing Velvet from her less than comfortable confines. As soon as the door opened Velvet crawled out of the cage, but she didn't stand, she knew better. Instead she sat there on her knees waiting for Torchwick to give her the command.

Before ordering her to stand Torchwick looked over his faunus assistant. She wore black heels, fishnet stockings, and a skimpy latex corset with a little fake cottontail on the back of it. "You know, if it weren't for these" he grabbed her tall bunny ears and gave them a little tug, "you might be beautiful." he noted. "Now stand."

"Yes Master Torchwick." She said again while she rose to her feet.

The show began shortly after, lasting around a two hours. During the show Velvet had been levitated, turned into an actual bunny, pulled out of a large hat, and finally made to disappear. Despite how well Velvet had done during the show, it still wasn't enough for her owner. She hadn't stumbled, spoken out of turn, or done anything to ruin any of the show, all she had done was glance at Torchwick halfway through the show.

"How dare you look at me like that during the show!" Torchwick yelled at her from backstage. The sound never made it past the velvet curtains or the steel doors.

"Sorry Master Torchwick." Velvet responded looking down at the ground.

A simply apology wasn't enough for him though, so he decided to take his cane and smack it into the side of her leg causing her to tumble onto the ground. She was left sprawled on the ground scared to say something more, after all if he found he was unsatisfied with her he could simply sell her and nobody would even bat an eye.

"Stand up!" Torchwick demanded. As the command left his mouth Velvet quickly did her best to stand, but she clearly was having a hard time doing so as her legs wobbled trying to keep her up. Despite her following his command she received another smack of his cane sending her back down to the ground she had just risen from.

"Answer me when I talk to you! Now stand!" He told her issuing the command again this time making sure that she responded.

"Yes Master Torchwick." Velvet replied once again trying to stand, but this time was a lot harder than the last. She took a minute or two to rise to her feet and once she did she had to grab something to keep herself supported.

"Look at you, you can't even stand on your own." Torchwick told her with a disappointed look on his face.

"Sorry Master Torchwick." Velvet replied looking down at the floor. There was no response to her apology, instead he just reached into his pocket and produced a collar. It was a brown leather collar about an inch thick, and it had a small metal box above the tag, which read, 'Property of Roman Torchwick if found return to 175 Beacon boulevard'. The metal box made it so that if the collar was removed an electric shock would be administered to the wearer.

"Now let's go." Roman told her while walking away not giving Velvet anything to help her walk with him.

"Yes Master Torchwick." Velvet said once again while she supported herself with the wall and slowly walked after him. The pair of them made it to Torchwick's car and in turn his house, which wasn't a large building indicating that he wasn't incredibly wealthy, but the fact that he owned a faunus said otherwise. For him she was a business investment, with her he would have a bunny assistant, two birds with one stone. Buying her had set him back considerably in terms of financials, however his shows have managed to bring in enough cash flow to make up for it.

Velvet was brought to her living quarters in the basement, which was simply a dog bed, a food bowl, a water bowl, and a lamp. She laid on her 'bed' and tried to rest her legs after the abuse they had received after the show. Her mind wandered thinking of what her life had become. She had been a slave her whole life and was separated from her parents when she was bought at the age of five. Her owner trained her to obediently serve their every command or expect punishment and once he grew bored of her he sold her to Roman Torchwick. Despite how poor her living conditions were with Torchwick, it was much worse with her previous master, at least this time she had food almost every day and clothing, no matter how skimpy it was. Her thinking was cut short by the sound of her stomach growling, so she looked at her dishes for some food. One was filled with some water with a couple flies floating in it, and the other had an old carrot. It wasn't old enough for it to be inedible, but old enough for it to be soft. Velvet picked it up and started eating it. She didn't really like carrots, but her owners found it funny to feed them to her, so she got used to them. Halfway through her meal she heard Torchwick calling her, "Get up here!" He exclaimed.

Velvet quickly got to her feet, but just as quickly fell down reminding her of what shape she was in. Before he called again Velvet had risen to her feet, slowly this time, and made her way up the stairs to the main house. Torchwick was standing in the kitchen waiting for her. Velvet gingerly walked into the kitchen worried by what he had in store for her.

"Come closer." Torchwick ordered.

As Velvet got closer she could smell alcohol in his breath and she suddenly remembered what he had told her before the show. She looked at the ground avoiding Torchwick's gaze, but he quickly fixed that by grabbing her head and turning it towards his.

"You really are pretty, for a faunus." He complimented her, however she was far from flattered and instead was just scared.

"I just gave you a compliment, you should be more grateful." He said sternly without raising his voice.

"Thank you, Master Torchwick..." She said quietly trying to look away from him again.

"You know I've owned you for a couple years now, and I haven't tried you yet..." Torchwick thought aloud which sent shivers down Velvet's spine as she wished she could be anywhere but there.

"P-Please stop Master Torchwick." She begged hoping that his intoxicated mind would listen to her. This wasn't the outcome, instead he quickly slapped her exclaiming, "You don't tell me what to do! I'm the owner, you're the pet!"

Velvet's cheek held the red handprint on her cheek created by Torchwick's slap. "Sorry Master Torchwick..." She told him while taking a step back. Her attempt to get distance between them was quickly thwarted when Torchwick closed the gap causing Velvet's back to be pressed up against the counter. He reached forward to grab her breast, but she quickly knocked away his hand. Although this stopped her from being groped, it also caused Torchwick to retaliate.

"You shouldn't have done that." He said in a calm voice, but that brought more fear to Velvet than if he yelled it at her. He grabbed one of her arms and pushed her further up against the counter. Velvet was all too aware as to what was about to happen, and although she had been a slave her whole life she had managed to keep it from happening to her. She wasn't about to let it happen now either, so she quickly used the hand Torchwick hadn't grabbed and franticly went to grab whatever she could from the table. The first thing she was able to grab was a pot, so she quickly grabbed it and smacked him on the head, knocking him backwards. Now with room to breathe Velvet searched the counter for something a little more menacing than a pot. There was a knife on the counter that she quickly picked up and pointed at Torchwick. Her hands were shaking like a leaf in the wind which caused Torchwick to laugh when he saw the knife.

"You're not going to do anything with that." He told her confidently while he took a step closer to her. He unfortunately underestimated her, Velvet closed her eyes, screamed something unintelligible, and thrust forward placing it square in his chest.

Torchwick took a step back and clutched his chest in disbelief, "You did it... You bitch..." He said as he fell onto the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Velvet couldn't stop herself from shaking as she stepped backwards trying to comprehend what had happened. Torchwick was dead, by her hand. She dropped to her knees and looked at the body before her, but she didn't cry, she couldn't shed a tear for someone like Torchwick. After a half an hour she came back to her senses, if she stayed there she would be executed for killing her master. Even if it was self defense it wouldn't matter, she was a faunus and he was a human. Her collar had a tracking device on it which meant that if she didn't get rid of it she'd be caught within the week. She rifled through his jacked looking for the key to the collar and eventually she found it. As she brought her key to the metal box on her collar she winced worried that it would shock her, but as the key turned the lock simply unlocked dropping the collar to the ground. She was free. Though she couldn't relish the moment as she needed to get out quickly. There was no way she could leave wearing the outfit she had on, so she ran to his room and grabbed a different set of clothing and threw it on instead. She now wore a pair of jeans, a simple black t shirt, a large black coat, and a top hat. The top hat managed to conceal her ears at least to anyone that was passing by, and with that she left.


	2. The Mugger

Velvet slowly made her way to town trying not to draw more attention to herself than she already did with her current attire. Her walk was less than enjoyable from the combination of the fear, guilt, and simply the fact that it had started raining. Each step she took made her wish she had grabbed an umbrella or something to keep herself dry, after all it wasn't like she had a change of clothes. Despite the fact that she was concentrated on that, it really was the least of her worries. Wet clothing doesn't compare to being a penniless faunus who had just killed her master, but at the very least nobody knew that yet. Torchwick's neighbours had yet to call the cops.

The streets of Vale weren't exactly well known to Velvet since she had only left the house to perform at her master's shows, and this managed to make this night even more scary for her. Her fear showed on her face showing it to everyone who passed by, but nobody stopped to see what was wrong. They either didn't care, were too busy to talk to her, or simply didn't want to help. After a couple moments Velvet realized she had been standing on the spot for a couple minutes now just lost in her thoughts. Those thoughts were mostly worrying about what would happen if she was caught, where she could go, and if she should go back for some money or clothing. Thinking like this wouldn't help her right now, and she knew that, so she continued walking trying to find an abandoned building or something. She walked for a while slowly getting into a worse part of town. The buildings started to have boards instead of some windows, the walls started to have graffiti on them, and the people started to look more menacing.

Her heart started to beat a mile a minute, scared that she would be attacked or someone would find out about her. Down here if someone found she was a faunus, it wouldn't end well for her... At least in the better side of town she would be taken to the police instead of becoming inslaved or worse. This caused her to get lost in her thoughts again, but this time she continued walking. This may have been worse than her standing still, because she managed to mindlessly walk into an alley. These thoughts were cut short when she was stopped in the alley by a man with a knife. He stood at 6', wore a black trench coat, jeans, a black skull cap, but refused to wear a shirt. This attire covered most of his features, but the one thing that Velvet could see what his torso which clearly showed that he was in shape by the six pack that was there.

"Wallet, jewelry, hand it over." He said sternly keeping the knife between them.

"I-I don't h-have anything!" Velvet exclaimed scared for her life.

The man glared at her for a moment determining whether or not she was lying, but once he was done he decided just to have a look. He quickly rifled through the pockets of her coat finding nothing, so he moved on to her jeans and still came up with nothing.

"You really don't..." He commented looking at her, seeing that she really looked the part as well with the clothing that didn't fit her properly. An idea hit him though, she wore a top hat which easily could conceal a wallet. It wouldn't be too odd, after all he had seen people hide wallets in weirder places before.

"Take off the hat." He ordered.

"W-Why?" Velvet asked. Her face showed exactly how afraid she was of removing her hat, which to the man confirmed his suspicion about it.

"Do it." He said simply showing her the knife again.

Velvet gulped and took off the hat causing her ears to flop out. "P-Please let me go..." She requested hoping that he wouldn't recognize how much a bunny faunus that looked like her would go for on the market. When the mugger smiled her first thought was he knew exactly how big of a pay day he had just stumbled across, but when he put the knife away she just sat there confused. _Is he letting me go?_ She asked herself in her mind. This question was quickly answered when the mugger turned around simply saying, "Follow me."

In a normal circumstance she would've ran away at that moment, but there was one thing that stopped her from doing so, he had a tail. Her mugger was another faunus, she had finally caught a break. As they walked through the alley her mugger didn't say a word, but he did hand her back her hat. Although she wasn't worried about being sold she was still afraid of what might happen, after all not all faunus are kind to each other. They had left the alley and started going down the street, but before they had reached the end of the block her mugger stopped. Velvet looked up at the building they had stopped at, it was nicer than the other buildings around, but still wasn't perfect. It had all of its windows, the building itself was made of the usual red brick, the door was painted black with a couple windows on either side, but the most noticeable feature was a large wooden sign that read 'Adel Ales' with a tagline reading, 'We put the ale in Vale!'

A bar didn't exactly seem like the safest place for a fugitive faunus, especially when it had the Adel name on it. The Adel family was notorious for finding and selling faunus slaves. Velvet quickly grabbed her muggers hand preventing him from going inside, "Don't go in there!" She exclaimed not knowing that this was where he planned on taking her.

"We are going in." He replied putting emphasis on the 'we'. When Velvet started to walk away he just grabbed her wrist and pulled her in.

The inside of the bar wasn't too flashy, it had several wooden tables around the floor, pictures of the many customers that went there, the bar was kept pretty clean, but the stools in front of it had no cushions. Behind the bar stood a man of average height, but he still looked he could take a man even twice his size in a fight. He was simply cleaning a glass in front of the wall of bottles behind him. The thing that was most worrying for Velvet was there was a hitch in the corner of the room that had a sign on it indicating that customers were to put their faunus there while they drank.

"I'm back and I brought someone with me!" Her mugger yelled while keeping a tight hold of her wrist. In response the man at the bar set down his glass and looked at his visitors.

"Welcome back Sun!" he exclaimed with a smile, "Who's your friend?"

Velvet stayed quiet, she wasn't really sure what to think, everything around her showed that this place wasn't exactly friendly to faunus, but the bartender seemed incredibly friendly to her mugger who's name just found out. Her silence spoke volumes showing Sun and the bartender that she was incredibly scared and confused.

"Calm down bun, he's not gonna hurt ya." Sun told her while shooting her a smile and letting go of her wrist.

"So what's your name? I don't think it's bun." The bartender said, but the lack of response from Velvet caused him to retry his strategy, "My name's Gaston Adel, would you like to tell me yours?"

"Velvet..." She responded quietly barely being able to be heard. If there was anyone else in the bar she wouldn't have been able to be heard.

"Do you have a last name Velvet?" Gaston asked with a smile.

"I... I don't remember it..." She told him. When she was first enslaved that was the first thing they did, they made sure that she wouldn't know her own name. Velvet had been strong though and she managed to keep a hold of her first name at the very least.

"You just escaped your master didn't you." Gaston guessed, he had talked to a lot of faunus before and that was a clear indicator. However, most couldn't remember their first either. Velvet response was simply silence, she wasn't sure enough of the situation to admit that she had escaped her master.

"Sun, she clearly doesn't want to talk to me, why don't you explain to her what's happening." Gaston requested before picking up the glass again and went back to cleaning it.

"Sure." Sun responded before taking her hand and leading her to the back. This time he was just guiding her rather than forcing her like he did to get her in the bar in the first place. It took a couple of seconds before Velvet followed him to the back.

The back of the bar had a basic kitchen, with a grill, fridges, fryers, but there was one thing really out of place. In the corner of the room there was a large meat locker and when Sun started to lead Velvet there it suddenly become a place to be feared.

"W-Where are we going?" Velvet asked as she stopped and refused to go any further.

"Calm down Velvet, the Adels ain't slavers no matter what the rumours say. They actually help faunus like you who can't find a place t' stay." Sun explained as he opened the meat locker.

"I-I don't believe you." Velvet argued figuring that Sun was just trying to trick her.

"Just stay here, I'll show you." Sun said after a sigh. With that he disappeared into the meat locker and was gone for a couple minutes. When he got back though, he had brought a couple more faunus back with him. The faunus on his left was a girl that looked to be around Velvet's age, but her stance showed a lot more confidence than the one Velvet possessed. She had long black hair that went all the way down to her waist, she wore some sneakers, some black jeans, an old white t-shirt and on the top of her head were two black cat ears. On the other side of Sun was a shorter girl that had long orange hair that split off into pigtails. Her clothing was less reserved than the first girls, with a small tank top, short shorts, some skater shoes, and there was a pink tail that sneaked out the back of her shorts.

"I know you must be scared, but it really is safe here, there's more faunus upstairs." The first girl assured her.

"You're not going to get her to move by talking like that Blake, you have to be more forceful!" the other girl said before firmly wrapping her hand around Velvets wrist.

"Hey! Neon stop it!" Sun exclaimed slapping her hand which was enough to get her to let go of Velvet.

"What? You told us to get her upstairs!" Neon argued.

"Gaston didn't want us to force her, it's her decision to trust us or not." Blake told her.

This argument about how to treat Velvet caused her to relax a bit. They're bickering made them look more casual, and less like a slave or a slaver. "I'll go." She told them.

"You won't regret it!" Neon said before grabbing her arm again and pulling her into the meat locker. The inside of the meat locker was exactly what you'd expect, there was just a bunch of meat hung up, but there was something off about one of the corners. Velvet looked at it and couldn't put her finger on what was wrong with it, but then she realized, it didn't have any meat near it. It was the only place in there that was bare, there was a hook in front of it, but just nothing was on it. Neon walked Velvet to that corner and pulled on the hook. It went down about a foot and the door swung open revealing a ladder behind it.

"Just go up there." Sun told her. Velvet started to become unsure of this place again, but she figured she might as well commit. She started to climb the ladder and once she reached the top she found herself in a room. The room was actually not that bad, it had a wooden floor, brick walls, and there was a couple doors, each going to a separate bathroom. The room also had a fridge, a couch, a bookshelf, a dresser, and a normal shelf that had some games on it. For a secret room coming out of a meat locker it was nice, but it wasn't how nice the room was that made Velvet relax it was the faunus in there. There were a couple faunus sitting on the couch, who were clearly in the middle of a game of monopoly. They looked to be about six or seven, and when they saw Velvet they stood still unsure what to think.

"It's okay." Velvet said as she stepped into the room and took off her top hat. Once the kids saw her bunny ears they immediately calmed down figuring Gaston had taken in another faunus.

"I told ya it was safe." Sun said as he climbed up the ladder. "The Adels keep faunus here til they have a place t' stay." he explained with a smile. This was a huge relief for Velvet, and it caused her to start crying which threw off Sun.

"Is something wrong?" He asked in surprise

"N-No, I'm just happy..." Velvet said with a sniffle. She was so incredibly happy that she finally had something good happen to her.

Neon and Blake made their way up the ladder and walked over to the children. "We can keep playing now." Blake said smiling. The two of them had been taking care of the children while Sun was out and the bar was open.

Sun made his way to the dresser and opened it up showing a bunch of clothing of all different sizes, "Why don't ya grab some clothes 'n' tell us what happened." Sun suggested. With a nod Velvet went to the dresser, grabbed a pair of jeans and a brown tank top, and left to the bathroom. Once she came back she had changed into the clothing and had her old outfit in a clump in her hand, "Sun... Is it okay if we... burn this?" Velvet asked not wanting a memento of her old life.

"I'll have to ask Gaston, he generally tries to make us as comfortable as possible, but keeping the clothing could be good for another faunus." Sun explained as he went down the ladder.

"Gaston? Velvet wanted to know if we could burn the clothes she came in." Sun told him.

"Sure. I don't want her to have a reminder of tonight..." Gaston replied.


	3. The Party

The next week passed by relatively well. Velvet had got along with the other faunus there, Gaston made sure everyone was well fed, and Sun, when he wasn't out 'working', kept everyone entertained. The only problem were the nights, every night Velvet woke up around two o'clock having nightmares about Torchwick. She'd relive that night, but when he was stabbed he didn't stay down. He'd get back up covered in blood and do something terrible to her. Each night it was different, ranging from continuing what he had started, to trying to kill her. These nightmares ruined her sleep schedule and each day she just looked more and more tired. At this point she had trouble staying awake, and the bags under her eyes had gotten so bad it looked like she had a black eye.

Velvet sat on the couch with the two children beside her, and Sun, Blake, and Neon across the table from them. The three of them were sitting on the ground, and on the table was a copy of 'Remnant the game'. Everybody was split into teams of two with the kids being on one, Velvet and Sun being on another, and Neon and Blake being on the last. Much to the other teams' embarrassment the kids' team was winning, by a lot. It wasn't that they were bad, it was that the kids' were good at this game. The only reason they didn't win the game was because it was interrupted when someone climbed up the ladder and entered the room. She was 6' tall, if you included her heels, and wore a fashionable outfit consisting of: a brown shirt that showed off her breasts, a black cincher on top of it, black trousers kept up by a leather belt with a crosshair belt buckle, black leather heels, a black scarf, and to top it all off, sunglasses and a beret.

As soon as the kids noticed she was there they leapt over the table calling out, "Coco! You're back!" Running towards her to give her a hug.

The rest of the players stood up and waited for the children to finish their greeting before they started theirs. Velvet though was stunned by the woman in front of her. She ended up staring at her, lost in her beauty, and as soon as Coco noticed a deep blush covered Velvet's face and she quickly moved behind Sun. It was a funny sight, because when she ducked behind Sun her ears poked up over his head.

"So, I see you guys found another friend." Coco commented while stepping forward and lowering her sunglasses.

"Yeah, she got here a week ago, but she's generally not this shy..." Sun told her stepping to the side leaving Velvet out in the open.

"H-Hi... I-I'm Velvet!" Velvet exclaimed nervously, doing a very bad job concealing what she thought about Coco.

"Hi there Velvet." Coco told her with a laugh, "So, other than Vel over there, anything exciting happen since I left for school?"

Sun thought for a moment, but couldn't think of anything interesting that had happened. Things had been going pretty smoothly, he had started mugging people since she left, but that was a secret. Only Velvet and he knew about it, and he planned on keeping it that way.

He shrugged and told her, "Things have been quiet since you left."

"Well, why don't we change that tonight? I say we celebrate me finishing this year of school with a little party!" Coco suggested smiling. Sun, Blake, and Neon were people she considered friends, and since she'd been away from them so long a party would be a nice reconnection.

"A party would be nice." Blake commented

"Whoo! Party!" Neon exclaimed a lot more excited than Blake

"Looks like we have a plan for tonight." Sun said with a smile.

Gaston had let them have the bar to themselves for the night allowing the kids to be upstairs and the rest of them able to party without being caught. He normally wouldn't have let her do this, but he figured it'd help Velvet relax some more and Coco had been gone for a while.

Sun and Coco spent a lot of the day coming up with entertainment for the night all of which involved drinking. Now that everyone was downstairs they could begin. Coco hopped behind the bar and pulled out five shot glasses and a bottle of vodka, meanwhile Sun grabbed an empty glass and a quarter.

"Everyone have a seat at the table!" He announced walking over to the table in the centre of the room. Once everyone gathered around the table Sun set the glass in the centre of the table and had a seat between Neon and Blake.

"So, we are going to play a game called Quarters. The rules are simple, you get this quarter and you must bounce it off of the table and into the cup. If you miss you take a shot, and if you get it in you choose someone to take a shot. After your turn you pass the quarter to your right. Those are all of the rules." Sun announced slamming the quarter down with his thumb onto the table.

"If you don't want to play we aren't forcing you, and if you want a chaser we can get you one." Coco told everyone. Nobody quit, but everyone excluding Sun and Coco asked for a chaser. Since she offered Coco got up, hopped behind the bar and poured two pints of bear and a coke. While she did this Sun picked up the vodka and poured everyone a shot. By the time she got back everyone had a shot in front of them and Sun started the game.

Sun decided to get fancy and tossed the quarter with some backspin, it passed the cup and it bounce back towards it and got it in. "Boom! Velvet you get the honour of the first shot of night!" He exclaimed. Velvet gulped and stared at the shot for a couple seconds before she took it. She had never had alcohol before, her owners never gave her anything more than water, but the others had since they had lived here for a while. Velvet scrunched up her face not liking the taste and quickly drank some of her coke, another new taste for her. This one she found she liked though.

The game went fast with Sun and Coco never missing a throw, and Velvet never getting one. On top of that Sun passed a couple of his shots to her. They played three rounds, but she was six shots in and felt like the world was spinning. Despite this she had a dumb grin on her face and her ears flopped down onto either side of her head. In terms of shots, Velvet was winning with six, Blake was after her at four, Sun was next at three, Neon came in at two, and Coco had gotten through without a single one.

The whole point of starting with the drinking game was Sun wanted to get them to agree to playing strip poker later. Velvet and Blake would never agree if they were in a normal frame of mind.

Now that Quarters was done Velvet got up and stumbled her way to the bar and was about to pour herself a beer. Coco stopped her saying, "Velvet you should sit back down and wait for a while before we get you a beer. I'll fill your coke though."

"Okay." Velvet said with her eyes closed, holding the o for a while. She stumbled back to her seat and dropped down onto it. The rest of the group was enjoying seeing Velvet like this, half because it was funny seeing her stumble around, half because she looked like she was having fun. This week she looked like she always had something on her mind that stopped her from doing that.

"You! You did this!" Velvet exclaimed pointing at Sun. Her arm swayed as she was pointing.

"Yes I did Velvet"

"So, if anyone has any questions for Velvet now might be the time to ask." Neon announced to the group.

"Hey! Leave her alone for now, we can always do that later." Coco exclaimed from behind the bar.

"Fine. But I'm holding you to that later part." Neon told her.

Coco sat back down with a beer for herself and a coke for Velvet. As soon as she set down the beer Velvet grabbed it and took a sip. Coco looked at her and rolled her eyes before swapping the glass with the one filled with coke. Although drunk Velvet had been the centre of attention for a while Sun took the spotlight with some bets/bar tricks.

"Hey Blake, I bet you one shot that I can stay under water for five minutes." He told her with a cheeky smile.

"Fine. I'll take that bet, but where are we going to do it?" She asked

"Right here." Sun smiled walked to the bar, filled the glass with water, and set it on his head.

"You sneaky monkey..." Blake replied not impressed by his antics.

Coco grabbed the glass and poured the water down the drain, "Sun, now you have to drink, it hasn't been five minutes."

"Hey that's cheating!" Sun exclaimed

"If holding a glass of water isn't cheating, taking it off isn't either." Coco stated handing Sun a shot.

The next hour mostly consisted of Velvet fumbling her way around, and Sun doing stupid tricks. They did manage to keep a smile plastered on everyone's face though, which made the night enjoyable.

"So, we have alcohol and a deck of cards, why don't we play a little game of strip poker?" Sun suggested. Everyone except for Sun and Coco had never played it and Velvet hadn't even heard of it. After all they hadn't been free nearly as long as Sun.

"Sounds like fun!" Velvet exclaimed raising her glass into the air.

"Do you even know what strip poker is?" Blake inquired.

"No..."

"Sun do you want to explain it or do you want me to?" Coco asked. Sun gestured to her indicating that he'd rather her do it.

"So, Velvet do you know what poker is?"

"Yes." Velvet responded. She had seen Torchwick play at least once a week while she brought him and his friends drinks.

"So, it's just poker, but instead of money we bet an amount of clothing. If you lose the hand you have to remove those clothes. Do you still want to play?"

Velvets cheeks reddened, she didn't want to strip in front of them, but she did want to see a certain someone strip. "Sure." She stated. With that Sun dealt out the cards and they started playing. Unlike Quarters this game ended up being in Velvet's favour, six hands in she had only lost her shoes and socks. Meanwhile Sun was only wearing his pants, Black wore almost nothing from the waist down, Neon was completely topless, which was odd considering she only had lost two articles of clothing, and Coco sat there with her shirt and pants, but nothing else not even underneath it. Velvet put on Coco's beret and sunglasses about two or three hands in and has been wearing them since, after all Coco like how she looked with them on.

"How is she winning?" Sun asked, he was usually the king of cards through luck or cheating. Today he was unable to pull off either.

"Ever heard of a lucky rabbits foot?" Velvet teased throwing her foot on the table, but she found that this made her a little too off balance when she fell onto the floor.

"Ow..." She muttered to herself while everyone laughed.

"Why don't we let that be the end of strip poker for the night." Coco said, not because she was losing, but because she figured Velvet was going to have to head upstairs soon. That certainly would be a challenge...

"Sounds good to me." Blake said

"Fine." Sun told her

"Come on! I wanna play a couple more hands!" Neon exclaimed. Everyone else there thought she was just trying to find an excuse to get naked, but in all honesty Neon was just having fun.

"How about this, we stop now, but you get to put your bra back on." Coco bargained.

"Deal." Neon replied while picking it up off of the ground.

Sun collected the cards and put them away, making sure to come back with a pint. There was a couple seconds where nothing happened, but Neon came up with a plan, "Why don't we ask those questions we were promised?" She asked. That idea sounded good to everyone, so they decided who'd get the first one.

"Since it's your party why don't you go first?" Sun asked Coco.

"Fine. So, Velvet why were you hiding from me this morning?" She asked already knowing the answer. Velvet's face turned red again and she accidentally told her.

"Because you're beautiful!" She thought she thought to herself.

"Ooh Velvet, I didn't think you swung for that team." Coco responded smiling at the 'compliment'. She also found Velvet pretty good looking as well.

"I-I said that aloud!?" Velvet asked managing to turn even more red. Coco simply nodded which caused Velvet to run upstairs. She nimbly made it up the ladder which surpassed everyone's expectations.

"Well, Looks like that'll be the night. Do you guys mind cleaning up while I talk to her?" Coco asked.

"Sure, I don't think any of us mind, right?" Sun responded looking at his two companions who gave him a nod of confirmation.

"Thanks." Was the last thing Coco said before going after Velvet. When she got upstairs Velvet had wrapped herself up in her sleeping bag and was covering her face with her ears.

"Hey, Vel." She said announcing her presence.

Velvet slid one of her ears out of the way and looked at Coco before quickly moving it back. Coco realized she wouldn't really be able to have a conversation with her right now, but she figured she could at least talk to her. So, she sat right next to Velvet on the ground.

"You shouldn't be so embarrassed Vel, I found that very sweet." She told her while she slowly brought out her hand to pet her head. "You know when I walked in I saw you and all I could think of was how did someone let someone as beautiful as you escape? I'm very glad they did though."

Velvet removed one of her ears to look at her, "Really?"

"Yes." Coco replied giving her a warm smile. Coco wanted to make sure that Velvet had no doubt about whether or not she liked her, so she leaned in and planted a kiss right on Velvet's lips leaving her a blushing mess.

"Good night Vel." She said before she went downstairs and went up to her room.


	4. The Daughter

That night Velvet had slept the best she had slept in a long time. She finally was able to escape her nightmares. Although her night was great, her morning wasn't. When she awoke she had a splitting headache and grabbed her head, "Damnit..."

"Regretting last night bun?" Sun asked her from the couch.

"No." Velvet said with a goofy smile despite her headache.

Gaston figured Velvet would need something to help her hangover after seeing them the night before. So, when he heard her wake up he came upstairs with a cup of coffee, an aspirin, and some toast.

"Here, this'll help with your headache." Gaston informed Velvet.

"Thank you." Velvet responded.

Velvet quickly ate/drank what Gaston brought up, and she found it helped a bit, but didn't completely stop her headache. That didn't really matter much to her at the moment though, what really mattered was what had happened last night. Even though it wasn't a real kiss it was enough to get Velvet to blush just thinking about it.

"Everything okay?" Sun asked looking at her red face. "Are you sick?"

"N-No, I'm fine!" Velvet responded quickly.

"Okay, I guess I'll leave you here then, I'm off to work." He told her as he went towards the ladder. They both knew what his 'job' was, but calling it work was enough to keep everyone else out of the loop.

"See you later." Velvet told him.

Velvet found herself in the room alone, which had never happened before. Generally the kids were up here, but today, with the help of some disguises, Blake and Neon took them out to the town. Now that she was alone Velvet found it quiet, and she found herself thinking of her life as a slave. She couldn't help it, all the silence just reminded her all of those nights in the basement, and the more she thought the more scared she grew. Her legs started to hurt and her shirt felt tight around her neck.

Coco ascended the ladder and saw Velvet huddled in the corner, so she immediately went over to try to help, "What's wrong Velvet?"

"I-I can't stop thinking of the basement..." Velvet said, her fear clearly shown in her voice.

"Velvet, look at me." Coco said turning Velvet's head gently to her. "You're safe here. We won't let anything bad happen to you. You'll never be back there." She assured her. Coco hadn't heard Velvet's story yet, but she had dealt with enough faunus to guess what she was talking about.

Velvet found Coco's voice soothing and it started to calm her a bit, "A-Are you sure?"

"Yes. Gaston, Sun, Blake, Neon, and I will make sure of it." Coco said offering her a warm smile.

That was enough for Velvet, so she moved her legs and gave Coco a hug. "Thank you..."

"You're very welcome." Coco replied holding her close.

After that day Velvet felt a lot closer to Coco, and Coco felt the same. They spent a lot of time together over the couple of weeks and eventually Coco asked her out. Everybody knew it was coming, although some wished it didn't. Tonight Coco's plans were to take Velvet out for dinner and a movie, a classic date, but something Velvet had never experienced.

"You almost ready?" Coco asked from the base of the ladder.

"Almost, but are you sure this will work?" Velvet asked looking in the mirror at her disguise. It was mostly normal clothing, consisting of jeans, a sweater, a plain t shirt, and a beanie. However her ears curled up nicely into the beanie effectively hiding them.

"Trust me, it'll work. If you'd like I could bring a collar along. That way if you do get discovered I can pretend to be your owner." Coco suggested.

Velvet thought about it for a moment, on one hand she didn't want to even look like a slave again, but on the other it'd offer them a good backup plan. Not to mention she didn't really mind the thought of Coco owning her, but that was beside the fact. "Okay, bring one, but is it okay if I keep the key?"

"Of course! I wouldn't want you to wear a collar you couldn't take off." Coco replied before dashing behind the bar and grabbing a collar and key. They kept several collars back there for situations like this, or for when someone is looking over the bar. That way they wouldn't need to worry about any of them being caught.

Velvet descended the ladder and met up with Coco, who gave her the key. "I know I'm being paranoid, but can I make sure the key works?"

"Of course." Coco responded handing her the collar.

Velvet quickly locked the collar and tried using the key on it. Much to her relief it unlocked easily. "Thank you."

"So, are you ready to head out then?" Coco asked

Velvet nodded, now that she had a disguise and Coco had a collar, she was more than ready. Now that she had confirmation Coco opened the door to let Velvet out. Velvet wasn't used to this kind of treatment, but she found it made her feel special, at least a little bit.

"Thank you." Velvet told her.

The movie theatre was a couple blocks away, so the two of them walked over. They walked over not really talking, but it was a comfortable silence, the kind of silence only achieved through close friends. Eventually they made it to the theatre, it wasn't a big one, but it was nice. There were two glass doors with a now playing sign between them, showing off the current triple A title that was being shown, 'X-ray and Vav: Dawn of Mogar'. Neither of them wanted to watch that movie, Coco because she wasn't super into superhero movies, Velvet because she hadn't seen any movies and it looked like a sequel. The two of them walked inside and had a look at the showings, it read, "Pacific Grimm 7:30 9:00, Sarge 7:00 8:30, Silence of the Lads 6:30 8:00, and In Service 6:00". Velvet looked at the movie names and one stood out to her.

"Coco, what's 'In Service'?" Velvet asked interested.

"I think it's a love story or something... I'm pretty sure it's about a relationship between some rich dude and one of his faunus servants." Coco told her. She didn't really watch love stories, action movies were more her style, but if Velvet wanted to see it she wouldn't say a word against it. The only problem was she hoped that if they watched that movie Velvet wouldn't relapse.

"Coco? What movie do you want to watch?" Velvet asked having not decided on what she did.

"Silence of the Lads is supposed to be good, but I don't think you'd like it... It seems a little too scary for you." Coco said. The movie was about this group of people who work together, but one of them is a psychopath. He eventually locks everyone in their office and picks them off one by one.

"No it's not!" Velvet objected with a stomp of her foot. She felt like Coco was treating her a little bit like a child, but in actuality she was just being careful.

"Okay, we can watch it if you'd like then." Coco told her.

With that the two of them bought two tickets to 'Silence of the Lads'. The movie started fine, so Velvet sat there thinking that Coco just thought she was a scaredy cat or something. However when the movie really got going she clung onto Coco often putting her head into Coco's shoulder to avoid seeing some people die. Once the movie was over she still clung to Coco, which she admittedly thought was funny, but there was no way she'd laugh at Velvet right now.

"You okay there Vel?" She asked

"I-I'm fine! T-That movie wasn't scary at all!" Velvet said immediately declinging and acting tough.

"Yeah, it was great wasn't it." Coco said mostly humouring her. She did actually think the movie was great, but she didn't believe for a second Velvet wasn't scared by it.

"So, why don't we head out for dinner?" She suggested.

"So, we're heading back then?" Velvet asked figuring dinner just meant going back to the bar and eating with everyone else.

"No, I mean like go to a restaurant and you and I just eat. Maybe with some romantic lighting." Coco said smiling.

"I've never been to a restaurant before..." Velvet informed her.

"So, that means we're going then." Coco said leading Velvet down the street to the closest restaurant, 'Jaune's Ark'. It was famous for having the widest selection of foods.

When they arrived there was a decent amount of people in line, but they were able to get in eventually. As they walked Velvet started to feel very out of place, she had been taught her entire life that if she were to be seen in anyplace as fancy as there that she would be punished. The waiter dropped them off at a table near the edge of the restaurant, but it wasn't a bad spot. Now that they were seated Velvet looked at Coco and waited to see what she did before she did anything herself.

"Vel, you just pick up a menu and pick what you'd like to eat." Coco told her, while doing so herself.

"Mmm, the Italian dishes look good." She commented, but Velvet didn't know what or where that was, she was still fumbling with her menu.

"Oh, and the roast sounds good too, especially with the roasted carrots." Coco continued, "Do you want to try that?"

"No!" Velvet answered very quickly and a little louder than she intended.

"Vel, is something wrong?" Coco was concerned that she had said something or done something to piss her off.

"Nothing, I just **don't** like carrots." She responded putting emphasis on the word don't.

"Okay." Coco responded. Most people wouldn't really get why she was like that, but Coco pieced it together, she had found a lot of faunus are fed with stereotypical foods while they're slaves. So, hearing Velvet having an aversion to carrots wasn't too far out there.

"The lasagna here is very good, and they serve it in big proportions, so why don't we split one?" Coco offered.

"That sounds good, and sorry about snapping at you..." Velvet said while she looked down and crossed her legs at the ankles.

"Hey, Vel. I understand why you did." Coco replied showing off a warm smile to sooth velvet a bit.

Velvet simply smiled back happy that Coco was as understanding as she was. It really made things a lot easier on Velvet. Their moment was interrupted when the waiter came back for their orders, "Are you two ladies ready to order?" he asked.

"Yes. We'd like to split an order of lasagna, Vel over there would like a coke, and may I please have some water." Coco ordered.

The waiter looked over at Velvet just to make sure that's what she wanted as well, and after a nod of confirmation he said, "I'll be back with you beverages in a moment."

After the waiter left Coco gazed across the table at Velvet, "So, how did a girl like you manage to become so beautiful?"

Velvet turned a shade that complemented her name and couldn't find the words to respond.

"Um, Coco? Can I tell you something after dinner in private?" Velvet asked a bit nervously.

"Of course! You can tell me anything." Coco responded without a moment of hesitation. Overall Coco wasn't sure what it was, but the look Velvet had on her face made her think it may be about how she escaped.

The waiter came back with their drinks and after a little small talk he brought the lasagna as well. Overall the wait wasn't long especially for a busy place like this.

"It's so big..." Velvet said looking at the lasagna which was about the size of her head.

"I told you they had big proportions here."

"But... I didn't think you meant this... Are all restaurants like this?"

Coco laughed at Velvet's response before giving her own, "No, this restaurant has bigger proportions and especially with their lasagna." She explained.

Now that Velvet was at least a little bit over the size of the food she grabbed her fork, took off a piece, and tried it. Her face turned into a mix of pleasure and pain, she loved the taste, but it hadn't cooled enough for her.

"Hot! Hot!" She exclaimed fanning herself with her hand.

"Vel, you have to wait for the food to cool." Coco responded trying not to laugh at her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Velvet asked with a betrayed look on her face.

"I thought you knew." She responded honestly.

Velvet just stayed quiet and waited for the food to cool by chatting and sipping on her coke. Despite the size of the lasagna the two of them managed to make short work of it. Well, the two of them might be a generous description, Velvet ate about a quarter maybe less, meanwhile Coco put away the rest with little difficulty. After that was done Coco paid the bill and they went on their way.

The walk back was generally uneventful, with Velvet holding Coco's hand and resting her head on her shoulder as they walked. They didn't talk much on the way, but neither of them minded the quiet, but when they passed a TV store they had a problem.

"Ex Magician Roman Torchwick was found dead in his kitchen last night stabbed in the chest. Police found an unlocked faunus collar at the scene. He had owned a bunny faunus that worked as his assistant in his shows, but it seems to have left the scene. If you see this faunus report to the police immediately, they are assumed armed and dangerous." The reporter said as a picture of Velvet in her assistant 'uniform' appeared on the screen.

"Vel?" Coco asked looking over at her.

Velvet simply didn't respond, her breathing had sped up and she gripped onto Coco's arm tightly. It was clear to Coco that Velvet was the killer, but she couldn't think of her doing anything like that.

"Vel. Talk to me."

"I... I..." Velvet tried to say something, anything, but that was all that came out.

Coco pulled Velvet closer and held her, half to calm her, half to talk to her quietly. "Just talk to me when we get to the bar." She said before continuing their walk.

After that moment Velvet and Coco's walk became more and more unnerving with each step. Velvet was looking around worried that someone would find her, and Coco just wanted to hear Velvet explain herself when they got home.

Eventually they did manage to get home without Velvet being caught, so Coco took Velvet into her room so they could talk in private.

"What was that about?" Coco asked.

"I-I... H-He..." Velvet started to try to explain but her words were failing her, and her body was shaking.

"Velvet. Explain yourself." Coco demanded.

"I-I was in the basement... H-He kept me there b-between shows... W-We had gotten b-back from one... H-He beat me w-with his cane... I-I was letting m-my legs rest o-on my dog bed a-and he called me up... H-He had been d-drinking a-and he called m-me over... H-He said I w-was beautiful for a-a faunus a-and he said h-he hadn't tried me yet... W-When he tried to grab m-my breast I-I knocked away his hand... T-That only made h-him mad... H-He grabbed my a-arm and he w-was going to... G-Going to..." Velvet started to explain herself, all the while she held herself. This was making her relive the night.

"You don't need to say. I think I know." Coco told Velvet making it so she didn't need to say it.

"S-So I reached b-behind me a-and grabbed the f-first thing I c-could find... I-It was a pot... S-So, I hit him upside t-the head a-and he w-was knocked back a-a bit... I-I turned around a-and grabbed the knife... I-I pointed it at him b-but my hands were shaking... H-He said I wouldn't do it a-and kept walking closer... I-I thrusted f-forward and it h-hit him in the chest... H-He fell back a-and said, 'You did it. You bitch.'" Velvet told her finishing the story. While she spoke tears freely ran down her face, but Coco leaned forward and held her close, which surprised her.

"Vel, it's okay... It was self defense." Coco told her while holding her close

"Y-You aren't g-going to turn m-me in?" Velvet asked

"What did I tell you a couple weeks ago?"

"T-That I was safe here. T-That you a-and Gaston w-would protect m-me." Velvet responded remembering the moment clearly.

"That hasn't changed. We still are looking out for you and we will never turn you in. I care about you way too much for that to happen." Coco assured Velvet.

Velvet couldn't find words once again, but this time that was because she was so incredibly happy right now. She held Coco close, and held her tightly.

"Now Vel, why don't you have a nap, you must be tired." Coco told her while slowly releasing herself from the hug and gently lowering her onto the bed.

"Thank you Coco. I love you..." Velvet said as she drifted off to sleep.

For once it was Coco's time to blush, Velvet had just told her that she loves her. She had never been told that from anyone but her parents before. She could only think of one thing to do, pet Velvet's head gently and softly say, "I love you too."


	5. The Traitor

Coco and Velvet started staying with each other almost all the time, and Velvet even started sleeping in Coco's room. They both were very happy together, and made each other's lives a million times brighter. However all good things must come to an end, but it wasn't their time yet, instead it was Neon, Sun, and the kid's also Velvet and Coco's but that's beside the fact.

"Thank you so much for the hospitality Gaston, and thank you so much for being there for any faunus that drops by your doorstep." Blake said giving him a big hug behind the bar. She held a bag that had all her belongings in it as she was ready to leave.

"I'm so sorry to leave so abruptly, I just found someplace to go. It's a place that I think I'll able to be happy, even more than I was here, and that's nearly impossible." Blake said trying not to cry. "I'm going to miss all of you... Bye..."

With that Blake erupted into tears and everyone came together and wrapped her in one giant hug. The kids didn't want her to go, well everyone didn't want her to go, but the kids especially. Despite that she still left though, not to hurt them, not to get away, but to live her life and that was enough for Sun, Neon, Gaston, Velvet, and Coco to let her go.

Her leaving left everyone else feeling a bit more alone, and an uncomfortable silence spread through the upstairs room. However, it wasn't something that lasted forever, in a couple weeks things started to become normal again. They didn't forget her, but they stopped dwelling on her leaving. Velvet and Coco though kept going on dates on rare occasions and stayed close. They both helped each other get through her leaving a lot faster than it took everyone else. To Gaston and everyone there Blake was like family, but now she's gone. They took solace in the fact that she was going to a place where she'd be happier and the fact that she swore she'd visit them.

The only problem was, when it rains it pours. Only when things just came back to normal another blow struck their already unstable lives. While Sun and Neon were out with the kids Velvet was upstairs with Coco hanging out on the couch and Gaston was at the bar. It was like a normal day, until the doors were blown open. The new opening was filled with several police officers, "Gaston Adel, you are charged with harbouring a fugitive!" They announced.

Gaston quickly put his hands behind his head to avoid conflict, but the police weren't done yet. "We received an anonymous tip that the slave belonging to the deceased Roman Torchwick is hiding in your home." They told him while bursting into the back room.

Velvet and Coco could hear this from upstairs and despite the emotional distress it caused both of them they stayed silent and hoped it'd be over soon. Unfortunately life had different plans, the police burst into the meat locker and knew exactly where the switch was. Apparently the tip was very specific in where Velvet was. They quickly got up the ladder and found Coco and Velvet. There was no means of escape for them, the room was designed not to be found so they hadn't prepared for if it was.

"You two are under arrest!"

The police pointed their guns at the two girls, "Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head!" They exclaimed and Velvet and Coco immediately did so.

"Coco Adel you're charged for harbouring a fugitive, and Slave of Roman Torchwick you're under arrest for the murder of your master." They exclaimed loudly as they ran forward to get them cuffed.

Coco and Velvet couldn't do anything, so they easily got cuffed, and Coco was taken away, but they weren't finished with Velvet. A couple officers pulled out batons and made sure to rough Velvet up before they were brought to the station. Doing this to a human would've gotten them suspended or would've made them lost their jobs, but Velvet was a faunus, one who killed her master, so they wouldn't have anything happen to them by doing this. In fact the public would be all for it.

"You can't do that! She didn't resist arrest!" Coco exclaimed as she was taken away. She tried to help Velvet, but she couldn't get away from the officers.

The officers continued, and once they stopped Velvet was left broken, bruised, and bleeding, but alive. So, they carried her off to the cruiser to take them in.

Velvet never got a trial, instead she was just sent to prison, and sentenced to execution. However even though they could skip the trial, they couldn't execute her immediately, instead she had two weeks in prison before it. The Adels got a trial, but it was like they didn't. It was over before it even started, if anything the trial was just for show. They were sentenced to ten years in prison, but with bail.

All this misfortune was brought by a single anonymous tip, it came from someone who would've had to have known where Velvet would be, which meant it had to be Sun, Neon, or Blake. In the end it was Sun that thrust this fate upon them, though his plan wasn't to have Gaston and Coco imprisoned, just Velvet.

Before Velvet came around Sun cared deeply for Coco. Once she left for school he stayed behind and started mugging. He needed the money for this big romantic gesture he had planned, but once Coco came back her heart was stolen by the new girl. Sun was to blind to see it then, but when they started dating he was forced to see it. everyday thoughts would run through his mind, _What's so special about her? I was here first! I've known Coco longer! She rescued me!_.

When they were younger Coco had been going down the streets of Vale when she saw a wealthy man beating his faunus for meeting his gaze in public. She couldn't stand for it, so she whipped a rock at the man and dashed off getting him to chase her. She gave Sun the opportunity to escape by doing so and once Coco had lost the man Sun met up with her.

"Thank you!" Sun exclaimed feeling like this was a dream.

"Don't thank me yet, I have a place for you to stay." Coco told him.

She took him to her room and for a while she hid him there until her father found him. He wasn't mad, but he didn't want Sun being hidden so poorly. The bar had been there during prohibition and the owner installed a secret room accessible though the meat locker. Gaston had found it one day once he was hanging meat, and once he found it he made sure to keep it in good shape. Something like that could easily come in handy. Sun and Coco spent a lot of time together playing and all of that, after all they were ten. They've known each other for a very long time at this point, but to Sun, Coco was someone he'd want to date. To Coco, Sun was a friend, but nothing more.

Even when more and more faunus were rescued and brought to the bar Sun was always Coco's favourite, until Velvet came along. Sun knew that he would never be able to be with Coco as long as Velvet was there. He thought of trying to kill her, but he could never find a good plan. It wasn't that he'd be arrested, instead he was worried Coco would find out. One day when he was walking home he heard the news and found out about Velvet. So, he brought Neon, and the kids to town to get them away from the bar before he sent in the tip. He never thought that Coco and Gaston would be arrested as well, he figured at worst they'd get a fine.

Once he heard the news that Velvet was sentenced to Execution he got a sick sense of accomplishment from it, but when he heard about Gaston and Coco it was replaced by guilt. At least when he heard, a day later he started to see it as a good thing. _Coco deserved it, she chose Velvet over me._ he thought. _And Gaston, he was a slaver for years before he had Coco. He had it coming._ These thoughts rang through his mind until he felt justified in his decision. Until he felt that he did the right thing. Though he was the only one. At least the only one that mattered.

"How did this happen?" Neon exclaimed crying as she heard the news. The kids hadn't heard but they'd be right there with her when they did.

"They deserved it." He replied with venom in his voice.

"How could you say that! They gave you a roof over your head, food in your belly! They were like family!" Neon argued completely disgusted with Sun.

"Gaston was a slaver! Coco, was a bitch who played with people's emotions! And Velvet's the killer!" He exclaimed yelling at this point.

Neon couldn't argue with him any longer, so she slapped him across the cheek and left, "Stay away from me, and the kids." Was the last thing she told him before leaving.

Sun was alone now, he betrayed the people that loved him, and now he didn't have anyone. It was poetic justice in a way, but that didn't make it any better, at least for him.

What happened to Sun, didn't affect the current situation of Velvet and the Adels however. Velvet was thrown into a cell, literally, and she sat on the cold stone ground. It felt like the basement she had grown so accustomed to. At the very least Coco had been put into the cell next to her, as a human she received an actual bed as opposed to Velvet who had nothing but iron bars.

"Velvet wake up!" She yelled with tears in her eyes at the slump of faunus in the cell next to her. Velvet had been roughed up nearly every day she had been in jail, but today was the worst. Since she had been thrown into her cell she hadn't moved a muscle, her body was bruised, a lot of her ribs were broken, and she was bleeding in several places.

"Please wake up! Please!" Coco continued pressing her head up against the bars between the cages and sitting on her knees.

"Hush Coco... I don't like it when you cry..." Velvet said quietly as she sat up. Her body was screaming at her not to, but she powered through just to hopefully calm Coco.

"Velvet! Thank dust!" She exclaimed.

Velvet slowly crawled over to Coco, but as she got closer Coco could start to see how injured she was.

"Oh god, what have they been doing to you?" Coco asked as the tears started to fall again.

Velvet put her finger up to Coco's lips, "What did I say?" Velvet told her keeping a warm smile on her face. In the end Velvet was just happy Coco hadn't been hurt, and these kind of beating's weren't exactly new to her.

Coco wiped away her tears, "S-Sorry..."

"It's okay, just..." Velvet started as she passed out, sliding down the steel bars between their cells.

"Velvet!" Coco yelled reaching through the bars to see if she was still breathing. She put her hand in front of her mouth and found that she was still breathing.

"Oh Velvet..." Coco said doing her best to hold her.

Gaston was kept in a different ward, but like Coco he was unharmed, at least physically. Emotionally he believed it was his fault this happened, after all he took Velvet in, in the first place. Now him, his daughter, and Velvet were stuck in this situation and he just blamed himself.


	6. The Savior

Thirteen days. Thirteen days had passed since Velvet received her sentence. That meant Thirteen beatings, thirteen meals, thirteen broken bones, and one day left. All these injuries and beatings would've kept most people down, but Velvet forced herself to be with Coco... for her last day.

"Velvet, I-I'm sorry... W-We couldn't protect y-you... A-And now this..." Coco told her as her tears streamed down her face once again.

"Coco, it's okay. I'm just sorry that I'm going to have to leave you." Velvet responded.

"No! It's not okay! I swore we'd protect you! And I failed!" Coco exclaimed.

"There wasn't anything you could do... I figured this would happen eventually... Good things always come to an end..." Velvet told her, "You know I was going to tell you that night. But the television beat me to it."

"Vel, I knew you would've told me if you got the chance."

A guard dropped by and opened up Velvet's cell. "No! You can't take her! She still has the day!" Coco exclaimed.

"Calm down prisoner, I've been instructed to take her to the hospital ward." He said, which was very odd considering how they had never taken her there despite the beatings. Once he left a couple more guards came, "Where did the faunus go?" one of them asked Coco

"I don't know. I woke up and she was gone." She responded hoping that the man at least was taking Velvet somewhere safe.

Velvet's hearing allowed her to figure out that this guy wasn't a guard, "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Getting you out of here." He said simply

"Why though?"

"I was hired to get you out of here. I don't know why someone spent this much money to get a faunus out of death row, but I don't care as long as I get the money." He explained.

Velvet immediately tried to think of who would've done this, but she could only think of Neon, Sun, and the kids, but none of them had that kind of cash. So, she was left wondering who did it. The 'guard' carried her through to another prisoner's cell and he opened it up.

"If you can walk, just follow him and he'll get you the rest of the way." The 'guard' assured Velvet.

The man in the cell had been there for several years, living a life sentence, but he was part mole and had the claws. This gave him a very handy ability of being able to tunnel through the earth with ease, and with that ability he had made a tunnel to the outside. A normal prisoner would've just left, but this guy was smart, he instead made deals with other prisoners to get them out and he became quite well known through the prisoners.

"Let's go." He told Velvet before moving his mattress which sat on the floor revealing a hole.

Velvet hopped in and followed the tunnel. Meanwhile Coco sat in her cell wondering where Velvet ended up being taken, but she at the very least was sure she wasn't being beaten which brought her solace. She was taken out of her thoughts by hearing someone's voice, "Prisoner 1026 Coco Adel, your bail has been paid, you're free to go."

With that a guard dropped by and opened her cell for her. "Come with me." He ordered her and he walked her out to the entrance. Halfway through the trip she saw her father, who also was being taken out.

"Dad? Do you know what's happening?" Coco asked.

"I know someone's paid our bail, but I don't know who." He answered.

Once they got out a pristine white limo was waiting outside for them with a chauffeur holding open the door.

"Are you two the Adel's?" He asked, and once he received a nod from Gaston he said, "Would you please get in the car?"

Coco and Gaston weren't exactly sure what to do. Their bail was suddenly paid the same day Velvet was taken from some guy dressed as a guard and now a chauffeur was waiting for them. Gaston was about to tell Coco to stop when she walked forward and got into the car. In her mind this was the most likely way she'd find Velvet and she was willing to do anything for that to happen. Since he couldn't let his daughter go alone he came with Coco. The inside of the limo was as pristine as the outside, but with black leather seats. In the centre of the limo there was a mini bar, but there wasn't anyone in the car waiting for them. Once they were inside the chauffeur closed the door, got into the driver's seat and got going.

The drive wasn't too long running to about an hour, and it ended up being very uneventful. However the drive wasn't supposed to be, but the destination was. Coco looked out the window and saw a white mansion standing in front of them, past the entrance gate.

"Um, who are we seeing?" Gaston asked the drive, but he got no response. Instead the driver said something into the speaker and was let onto the estate.

They drove down the long driveway and pulled up right to the house. The chauffeur got up and opened their door gesturing for them to go inside. At this point the two of them were more curious than they had ever been. Why would someone who lived in a house like this care what happened to them? Their case wasn't a huge deal, and their trial wasn't on the news. So, the two of them walked in, and once they did they saw a face they never thought they'd see, Blake.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay!" She exclaimed running over to them and giving them a big hug.

"How did you do this?" Gaston asked, but immediately Coco asked, "Where's Velvet?" Much louder.

"Coco, we have Velvet in one of the bedrooms. She's sleeping now and she's had her wounds looked at. She'll need to be bedridden for a while, but she'll be fine eventually. If you want to see her, Neptune here can show you." Blake told her gesturing to the man to her left in a suit, clearly a butler.

"As for how, she asked me for help." A voice said from down the hall. The owner of the voice was out of view, but after hearing the clattering of high heels that was no longer the case. Weiss Schnee stood before them, the current head of Schnee corporations.

"Wait, how does Blake know you?" Gaston asked.

"Well, Blake was out in town and we kind of bumped into each other. We talked for a while and well I asked her out. We went on a few dates and eventually she moved in with us. When she heard about your trial she asked if there was anything I could do, so I wrote some checks and pulled some strings. I couldn't let my little Blakey down." Weiss explained with a smile.

"Thank you so much Mrs. Schnee. And thank you Blake." Coco told then with tears of joy in her eyes.

"You can just call me Weiss, a friend of Blake's is a friend of mine." She stated simply.

"Well, Blake how did you hear about this?" Gaston asked.

"Well, Sun hunted me down and found me. He told me everything that happened. Despite the fact that I wanted to kill him for what he did, he clearly had regretted it. Something had made him want to fix what he had wronged."

"Wait, what did Sun do?" Gaston inquired.

"You don't know?" Blake asked. She wasn't sure whether or not she should tell them now, but before she even had the option Sun stepped in.

"I was the one who called the cops. I was jealous of Velvet and I wanted her gone, but you two got dragged in as well... No matter why I did it, it doesn't excuse the fact I did." Sun explained unable to meet their gaze. He hadn't told Blake that Neon was the one who made him try to fix this, but Blake knew it would have to have been someone close.

"You did what!? After all we did for you!?" Coco exclaimed with a fiery rage burning up inside of her. "Velvet almost died! She was so badly beaten! And all because you were jealous!?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. It doesn't mean much I know, but I really am."

Gaston held onto his daughters shoulders, "Coco, calm down. He made a mistake we all do, he did his best and managed to fix it." he told her trying to calm her down.

"Whoopdee fucking doo! Do you expect Velvet to just forgive him!? This wasn't some little fucking mistake! He did serious harm! To your business! To our records! To all the faunus who lived with us! And most importantly to Velvet!"

"It's not up to me to make Velvet forgive him. It's up to me to make sure you do. I am your father and Sun has been a close friend with you for most of your life. He wasn't thinking straight, he was blinded by his jealousy. He has done his best to make amends and you should as well." He told her sternly.

"I will wait til Velvet wakes up. If she can forgive him I will." Coco told him before leaving with Neptune to see her.

"So Gaston, Blake told me all you have done for the faunus and I'd like to help." Weiss said trying to change the topic. "I bought your bar when they put it up for auction, and with your permission I'd like to do some renovations so that you can hide them easier. I also would like to franchise the bar so that we can have several locations. I want to find likeminded people to work at these locations so we can save a lot more faunus." Weiss explained.

"Wow... You've done so much for me and my family, thank you." Gaston said, "You don't need my permission now that you own it, so please feel free to do as you please as long as you stay true to your word."

"Well, your permission will be needed if you want to own your bar again. I feel like you'd be the best fit for what I'm looking for." Weiss exclaimed with a smile.

Upstairs Coco had made it to Velvet's room. It was a large room with a king sized bed, but the only part of the room Coco cared about laid in the centre of that bed. She had bandages all over her body, but you could easily see that it was her. As Coco looked at her she could see her chest rise and fall telling her without a doubt that she was alive.

"Thank you for bringing me here." Coco said giving Neptune a tight hug and crying into his suit.

"Woah Mrs Adel, you shouldn't be thanking me. Mrs. Belladonna and Mrs. Schnee were the ones who made this all happen." He explained.

Velvet slept for the rest of the day and only woke up the next day around one or two o'clock. Coco and Gaston were given rooms to stay in and were guests in the Schnee household for the time being. When Velvet awoke Coco was right there next to her.

"Hey..." Velvet said to her softly.

"All you have to say is hey?" She responded laughing

"Well, I've been asleep for a while, I haven't had time to think of something." Velvet told her, with a laugh, but her laugh quickly shot pain through her body. "Ow..."

"Jeez Velvet, just stay still, please." Coco requested tired of seeing her in pain.

There was a knock on the door, so Coco got up and answered it. On the other side of the door was Sun.

"Go away. You don't deserve to see her." Coco told him quietly with venom in her voice.

What she forgot was Velvet has amazing hearing, so she heard every word, "What's wrong? Who's there?" She called out.

"It's Sun." Coco told her.

"Would you please let him in?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure, please let him in."

That was enough to get Coco to let Sun into the room. "Hey Velvet. I just wanted to tell you something." Sun told her.

"Okay, tell me."

"Well, it was me. I called the cops that day. I got you into this mess and it's my fault you're so badly injured." He admitted.

"No. That isn't true." Velvet said calmly, "You just called the cops. I was the one who killed someone, and it was the police who beat me. All you did was tell them where I was. That's where your blame ends."

"Y-You forgive me?" Sun asked surprised. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Well, Gaston always said everyone deserves a second chance." Velvet told him with a smile.

It took a couple months for Velvet to be able to start walking on her own again, but she still was a fugitive from the law. However, she was a fugitive in Vale, and Weiss had already planned for that.

"Once you're ready to leave I can get you two down to Vacou. They just passed a law that prohibits faunus slaves. I think you'd like it." Weiss told them

Coco spent every day with Velvet helping her along the healing process and once she was fully healed they packed up their bags and left to Vacou. Weiss had managed to secure a small house for them to live in.

Gaston got his bar back and with Sun's help they've managed to help hundreds of faunus escape to Vacou for safety.

Blake and Weiss lived in the Schnee estate and eventually the two of them got married.

Neon and the two kids live in Vacou just a couple houses down from Coco and Velvet. Blake made sure that Weiss put them close together.


End file.
